22 January 2012

Winter Blues

"Now is the winter of our discontent."

Yikes.

Liverpool have averaged 1.00 points per game or fewer in eight months over the last four-and-a-half seasons – eight of 46 months during this time frame. Three were in January, including this season, with one in December. Half of Liverpool's horrible months since the 2007-08 season have come during winter, under Benitez, Hodgson, and Dalglish.

Admittedly, January isn't quite over with just yet. If Liverpool win at Wolves on the 31st, it will bump this season's January average all the way up to 1.00 points per game. Which will still be worse than just four other months since the start of 2007-08. A draw would lead to an average of 0.50 points per game; a loss an average of 0.25. If Liverpool don't win in nine days, it'll be the worst month during this span, possibly tied with the end of 2009-10 when Liverpool lost to Chelsea and drew at Hull with nothing to play for. No matter next week's result, this month's average will be really, really not good. The highest the four-and-a-half season January average can climb is 1.33 points per game, still worse than the next-closest month by more than a third of a point.

January cost Liverpool its long-desired league title in 2008-09. It nearly cost Liverpool Champions League qualification in 2007-08 if not for a remarkable run to finish that campaign, not unlike the subsequent season. December plus the first match in January were the final blow to Hodgson's ill-fated rotten regime. And while Liverpool's results clearly improved after Dalglish took the reins, last January would have been Dalglish's worst month of the campaign if not for two tepid losses to close the season once Champions League qualification was finally a lost cause. The best January in recent history came in 2009-10, that abhorrent campaign which saw Benitez get the sack, which should tell you how strange that season truly was.

That Liverpool are historically awful during this month is little consolation for the team's recent troubles. But we've seen this script before, even if this season's script is frustratingly far more goal-shy and frustratingly far more frustrating given heightened expectations.

Selfishly, this is all the evidence Liverpool fans need for a winter break. And from now on, we'll just tell Liverpool players than every month is March.